Note: I have underestimated the expansiveness of TAM (and overestimated the availability of power sources and internet access) and this is causing me to retract my original schedule of posting the evening following each day. I will probably be at least a day behind with these daily summaries given the awesome chaos that is The Amaz!ng Meeting. However, I promise to get them posted as soon as possible. Thank you for your understanding.

Thursday programming of The Amaz!ng Meeting primarily consists of optional workshops up to the event’s opening reception in the evening. This year’s offerings did not interest me enough to pay additional fees for them, but while there were not a lot of events to participate in there were still a number of notable experiences.

The first TAM-related event was a workshop entitled Skepticism in the Classroom consisting of presentations by Daniel Loxton, Barbara Drescher, Matt Lowry, and moderator Michael Blanford (JREF’s Director of Education). Daniel Loxton discussed how evolution through natural selection can be used as a tool for teaching students how to think critically. He suggested utilizing provocative evolutionary puzzles, such as “Why are trees so tall?”, “What color is best for an animal?”, and “How did animals get wings?” to facilitate critical thinking discussions and teach the fundamentals of scientific investigation.

Next, Matt Lowry discussed methods he uses in his high school classes to foster interest in the sciences. Promoting the approach of combining wonder and skepticism, Lowry offered a number of scientific demonstrations educators could include in their curriculum – such as launching water balloons and firing rockets as physics exercises, laying down on a bed of nails and letting a student hammer a concrete brick on top of him to teach about surface area and force distribution, and creating a “haunted” physics lab for Halloween.

Barbara Drescher discussed the first steps of teaching critical thinking, which includes education on flaws in human cognition and perception and that human reasoning is fallible. Included in the presentation were a number of images and sound clips showcasing pareidolia, along with exercises that demonstrate various flaws in cognition. Drescher’s conclusion was that intelligence is not enough to be a critical thinker, but that an openness to alternative perspectives and approaches is required.

Finally, Barbara Drescher presented for Kylie Sturgess on critical thinking in English class. A writing project that she gave her 10th grade English class that consisted of analyzing Shakespeare’s Macbeth for pseudoscientific claims, specifically the portrayal of the supernatural in the play, was presented. Students were provided with various worksheets to assist in organizing data and a guide of tips to use in investigating claims. The project was an interesting example of how critical thinking can be integrated into fields outside of science.

After a nice reception, I attended the Skepticality Speaking Beyond BS podcast and live video streaming. Participants included Swoopy, Desiree Schell, Heidi Anderson, Barbara Drescher, and Aubrey de Grey, plus Blake Smith and Daniel Loxton. The passionate, free-form discussion covered topics such as condescending skeptics, feminist and atheist segmentation in the skeptic community, accomodationists and Loxton’s Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be, and Paul Kurtz’s new humanism. The entire event was captured on Ustream and the podcast will eventually be posted on SheThought. It will be a good one!

Skepticism in the Classroom Workshop

Daniel Loxton discusses using evolution as a tool to teach critical thinking.

9 Responses to “TAM 8 Summary – Thursday”

Thanks for the update. The lack of power points was something experienced by many convention goers at the Global Atheist convention in Melbourne Australia – funny I though that a convention hall in Vegas would be tricked out with all the high tech mod cons.

Sean, I think that the lack of power outlets in convention areas is somewhat strategic. It’s a new facility, so they can’t say the need was not anticipated. They charge the event an additional fee per outlet, so…

Dylan, I would like to hear more about what you thought and how you felt about the presentations – especially the Friday talks. Your perspective is valuable, especially as a measure to help those speakers determine if they are communicating what they intend to communicate.

[...] TAM 8 Summary — Thursday from Dylan Keenberg at Woo Fighters: “Thursday programming of The Amazing Meeting primarily consists of optional workshops up to the event’s opening reception in the evening. This year’s offerings did not interest me enough to pay additional fees for them, but while there were not a lot of events to participate in there were still a number of notable experiences.” [...]